Sony PlayStation 3 lifetime sales hit 70 million as it catches up to Xbox 360

Sony’s (SNE) six-year-old PlayStation 3 hasn’t run out of steam. The company announced on Friday that its PS3, first launched in 2006, finally hit 70 million units sold as of November 4th and is now neck and neck with Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox 360, which had the advantage of launching one year earlier. Packed with a Blu-ray drive and a strong library of games, movies and music, the PS3 has finally caught up to the Xbox 360 as it attempts to win the 10-year console cycle marathon. Nintendo’s (NTDOY) massively popular Wii still eclipses both consoles with 97 million cumulative units sold, according to VGChartz. Sony also revealed that PlayStation Move motion controller has managed to shift over 15 million units since it launched in 2010. Sony’s press release follows below.

TOKYO, Nov. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today announced that the cumulative sales of the PlayStation®3 (PS3®) computer entertainment system reached a milestone of 70 million units*1 worldwide as of November 4, 2012 – less than six years after the platform launched in 2006. SCE also announced that sales of the PlayStation®Move motion controller surpassed 15 million units*1 worldwide as of November 11, demonstrating continued growth and momentum of the PS3® platform.

The PS3® system has delivered high quality, award-winning entertainment experiences since its launch. Throughout its lifecycle, the PS3® system has continued to evolve with more streamlined design, larger Hard Disk Drive (HDD) capacity, and new features through software updates. In September 2012, SCE launched the new PS3® system, which has a reduced volume and weight of more than 50 percent compared to the original PS3® model, and of 25 percent and 20 percent respectively compared to the slim PS3 model launched in 2009. The new PS3® has been well received by consumers around the world.

Along with the introduction of PS3® in November 2006, SCE launched PlayStation®Network, which now operates in 59 countries and regions*2 around the world. PlayStation Network supports free community-centric online gameplay, exclusive games from independent developers and major publishers, and a broad range of entertainment applications across movies, music, and sports. PS3 owners can access 170,000 downloadable digital content including 57,000 game content worldwide from PlayStation Network*3. In October 2012, SCE redesigned PlayStation®Store for PS3®, offering a more streamlined and accessible store experience, including a stunning new user interface, simple search, and powerful content discovery. The new store is now available in Europe and North and Latin America with more countries and regions to follow.

PlayStation®Plus, the subscription service package on PlayStation®Store that offers exclusive benefits such as discounts on games or online storage for game saves, started to offer an “Instant Game Collection” in North America and Europe in July 2012. The Instant Game Collection enables PS Plus members to enjoy popular titles from third party developers and publishers as well as SCE Worldwide Studios at no extra cost. SCE has also enhanced the content offering for PS Plus members in Japan in November.

Introduced in September 2010, the PlayStation®Move motion controller that enables users to intuitively play games is now supported by a wide range of titles with more than 400 as of November 2012, including Sports Champions 2, LittleBigPlanet Karting (Sony Computer Entertainment). Additionally, this month marks the global launch of Wonderbook™, a new peripheral that delivers the next evolution of storytelling and a unique experience exclusively on PS3. Wonderbook*4 uses the PlayStation®Eye camera to take augmented reality to spectacular new places, while drawing players into new worlds and allowing them to interact with stories as they tilt or rotate it, or simply turn the pages*5.

PS3® has gained tremendous support from 3rd party developers and publishers worldwide. Cumulative number of software titles for PS3® reached 3,590 with more than 595 million units sold worldwide*6. More exciting and attractive new titles are to be released from third party developers and publishers as well as SCE Worldwide Studios, including Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Entertainment.), Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Activision, Inc), PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (Sony Computer Entertainment), towards the holiday season. In addition, software titles that support “cross platform feature” such as LittleBigPlanet 2: Cross Controller Pack, PlayStation, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (Sony Computer Entertainment) are also expected to be released. With these titles, SCE will deliver a ground-breaking gaming experience by leveraging the capabilities of both PS3® and PlayStation®Vita.

SCE will continue to further expand the PS3® platform and create a world of computer entertainment that is only possible on PlayStation.